The motivational letter, a term widely used in Europe, is another name for a cover letter. When carefully written and structured, the motivational letter is one of the job hunter’s most powerful self-marketing tools. As the name suggests, the letter describes your motivation or reason for wanting a particular job and why you’re the employer’s best choice.

1. Review the job description in detail before starting your letter. Compare your experience and qualifications with the job’s requirements and list the comparisons. These match-ups form the key selling points in your motivational letter. Don’t be put off by a mismatch. If the job requires five years of field study but you have only three, your other qualifications might be enough to receive a job offer.

2. Research the company. Employers take special interest in job candidates who are knowledgeable about their businesses. You might want to reference the company’s mission, goals, products or services, and other background information in the motivational letter. This shows the recipient your familiarity with the business and your enthusiasm about joining its staff.

3. Date and personalize your motivational letter. Insert the recipient’s full name, title and the company’s address on separate lines. Leave a space between the date and address. Use “Dear” for your greeting, followed by “Mr.,” “Mrs.” or “Ms.” and the recipient’s surname.

4. Describe the position you want in the first paragraph of the motivational letter. State that you’re applying for the director of marketing position or senior finance manager’s post, for example. Include how you found out about the opening. Name the source and, if possible, add the date of the ad or posting.

5. Describe why you’re interested in the position in the second paragraph. Frame your response in a way that considers the company’s needs as opposed to your own. You might state that, as the director of marketing, you want to help the company expand its brand into a particular market that you’ve previously served, for example. Indicate what you like about the job and the company. You might refer to the way the position contributes to the company’s mission or highlight a company-sponsored activity that impresses you. You could mention that the plant manager’s position could help the company distribute more products globally or the company-sponsored job fair is giving local college graduates more job opportunities, for example. Explain why you’re the best candidate for the job. Be specific. Use the list of qualification matches to describe in detail how your skills, experience and knowledge fulfill the job requirements. For instance, you could point out that, as a communication crises manager, the notification system you designed for senior managers averted a plant shut-down -- the type of fallout described in the public relations manager’s job description. Use bullet points for multiple examples to minimize the density of the text. If this paragraph gets unwieldy, consider breaking it into several paragraphs, as appropriate.

6. Ask the recipient for an interview in the last paragraph. State that you would like to talk about the position in person and would gladly call her office to set up a date and time. Add your closing; “Sincerely” is universally accepted. Type your full name below, leaving space in between for your signature.

Things Needed

Resume

Tips

Keep your motivational letter to one page. Use a standard business-letter format: single-spaced, flushed left and double-spaced between paragraphs.

Don’t be modest in writing your letter. Your goal is to persuade the employer that you’re the person to hire, and that requires confidence and a positive attitude.

After writing the first draft, set it aside for a day or two, if the application timeline permits it. Reread it with a fresh perspective, which lets you edit with clarity and spot grammatical errors, misspellings and typographical errors. Start the draft days before the submission deadline so you have time to refine it. Have someone else proofread the final draft.

When emailing your resume or curriculum vitae as attachments, copy the motivational letter in the body of the email. Use only the recipient’s full name and title, and your typed name.

Mail your resume or curriculum vitae with the letter.

Warning

Follow up on promises made in your letter to call or take some type of action. Failure to follow through makes you appear unreliable and therefore not worthy of hiring.

About the Author

Valerie Bolden-Barrett is a writer, editor and communication consultant specializing in best business practices, public policy, personal finance and career development. She is a former senior editor of national business publications covering management and finance, employment law, human resources, career development, and workplace issues and trends.